Method and apparatus for conference spanning

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are conferencing systems, devices, architectures, and methods for managing a conference spanning system to facilitate participation in a plurality of conferences at the same time. An exemplary system having devices and/or structures in accordance with embodiments can include: (i) a plurality of conferences, each conference being configured to support a plurality of media modes; (ii) a presentation mechanism configured to support the plurality of media modes from the plurality of conferences; and (iii) a selector for selecting a conference from the plurality of conferences and designating the selected conference as an active conference and designating non-selected conferences as background conferences, wherein the active conference is assigned at least one enhanced media mode in the presentation mechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is related in general to conferencing systems and morespecifically to devices, systems, architectures, and methods of spanninga plurality of conferences.

In modern working life, it is typical to have conflicting meetings, suchas two video or telephone conferences scheduled at overlapping times. Insome cases, a person may only need passive participation in one or moreof several meetings, while being able to actively participate in onemeeting at a time. However, people can generally process multiple setsof information while focusing primary attention on only one thing at atime.

In some conventional approaches, audio-only or video-only monitoring ofseveral locations can occur, but such monitoring is not done in aconferencing application. Accordingly, what is needed is a way ofspanning a plurality of conferences by participating in some conferencesin a passive manner and at least one in an active manner. In general, aperson may need to be effectively present in more than one conference atthe same time. In particular, a way of using different “modalities” ormedia modes of a conference to allow participation as well as todistinguish between multiple conferences using a given media mode isdesirable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary conference spanningspatial arrangement in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary active and backgroundmeeting presentations in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary endpoint and streamcontroller arrangement in a conference suitable for use in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary audio management ina conference spanning system in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary media selection forsynchronization in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary mediasynchronization approach in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary split modalityoperation in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating spanning server and desktopoptions for control of a conference spanning system in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a first exemplary conferencespanning method in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a second exemplary conferencespanning method in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention implement video conferencingarchitectures, structures, control systems, and/or methods for spanninga plurality of conferences. An exemplary system having devices and/orstructures in accordance with embodiments can include: (i) a pluralityof conferences, each conference being configured to support a pluralityof media modes; (ii) a presentation mechanism configured to support theplurality of media modes from the plurality of conferences; and (iii) aselector for selecting a conference from the plurality of conferencesand designating the selected conference as an active conference anddesignating non-selected conferences as background conferences, whereinthe active conference is assigned at least one enhanced media mode inthe presentation mechanism.

In general, any type of hardware, software or combination thereof can beused with aspects of embodiments of the invention. Further, any type ofnetwork and/or communication link can be used. Also, any type of mediaconferencing or the like, such as video, audio, and/or data may be usedwith aspects of embodiments of the invention.

For clarity, various well-known components, such as power supplies, someor portions of communications ports, routers, gateways, firewalls, andso on, have been omitted from the figures. However, those skilled in theart with access to the present teachings will know which components toimplement and how to implement them to meet the needs of a givenapplication.

In general, a conference spanning device, software, and/or system inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention can includeswitch/routers or the like that may be configured with software tooperate as spanning servers. Further, switch/routers or the like may beconfigured with software to,operate as media switches to facilitate oneof the conferences suitable for operation in the conference spanningsystem. Media switch functionality can include locally terminating videoendpoint media and distributing incoming real time protocol (RTP)information based on conference policy, for example. Media can beforwarded between media switches and coordination between media switchescan be provided by a controlling server, where the controlling servercan be used to provide the initial conference arrangement.

Generally, aspects of embodiments of the present invention can allow forthe spanning of a plurality of conferences by accommodatingparticipation in some conferences in a passive manner and at least onein an active manner. In general, a participant may effectively bepresent in more than one conference at the same time. Further, different“modalities” or media modes of a conference to allow participation aswell as to distinguish the multiple conferences using a given media modecan also be used in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention. This is advantageous in a media (e.g., video, audio, text,and/or web components) conferencing system to: (i) increaseproductivity; and (ii) facilitate collaboration from multiple locales,for example.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram illustrating an exemplaryconference spanning spatial arrangement in accordance with embodimentsof the present invention is indicated by the general reference character100. Conceptually, user 110 can be centrally located in the middle offour conferences or meetings, for example. In actuality, the user can belocated in the same locale or a meeting room within one of meetings 102,104, 106, or 108, for example. Or, the user can be located remotely fromall of meetings 102, 104, 106, or 108, for example. In one aspect ofembodiments of the present invention, a particular media mode (e.g.,audio) can be used to give user 110 a sense of direction as to meetings102, 104, 106, and/or 108, to provide distinction and ease of selection.

Selection between meetings 102, 104, 106, and 108 can be made by user110 by way of selectors 112. Selectors 112 can be included in anyappropriate type of user input device or user interface, such as agraphical user interface (GUI) or telephony user interface (TUI), forexample. Selectors 112 can include a mechanism (e.g., a button ortouchpad) for providing or activating a signal from the user inputdevice to select an indicator, where the indicator can correspond to aconference. Such indicators can be displayed on a display screen, forexample The conference or meeting (e.g., one of 102, 104, 106, and 108)selected by user 110 via selectors 112 can be in the foreground and maybe referred to as an “active” conference. Other conferences in thesystem can remain in the background and user 110 may only have passiveparticipation in these conferences. Further, a conference bridge (notshown) can be made aware by user 110 that user 110 is participating inmore than one conference at the same time. User 110 can employ a set ofmessages to communicate (by way of selectors 112) the selection of anactive conference to a conference server (not shown), for example. Inthis fashion, a user can participate (i.e., be actively or passivelyinvolved) in multiple conferences in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention.

According to embodiments, “spatial” conferencing can be used to make itseem like the associated conferences are occurring in different rooms orlocations. A spatial arrangement or direction of each of the conferencescan correspond to the indicators and/or selectors 112. A user orparticipant can typically hear or otherwise monitor other conferences inthe background. If a participant wants to talk in one of thosebackground conferences, the participant (e.g., user 110) can bring thatbackground conference into the foreground (e.g., make active), and thentalk. When a background conference comes into the foreground, the voicecomponent of the new active conference can be enhanced and the lastactive conference voice can be reduced to “background” noise. In oneembodiment, multiple voices per conference can be heard by the user inthe spatial arrangement. Further, this spatial arrangement may beenhanced in some applications by the use of headphones as an outputdevice. In other applications, a particular room, such as one speciallyoutfitted with surround sound and/or a designated seating position canbe employed to accommodate a spatially arranged output device.

In accordance with embodiments, “rich” media or a full selection ofmedia types (e.g., more than just audio and video media modes orcomponents, but rather audio, video, text messaging, etc.) can besupported. Also, in one embodiment, a continual cycling through ofmeetings 102, 104, 106, and 108, to active meeting status can occur.Such an approach, which may be particularly useful for security purposesor for a manager wanting to quickly drop-in on several subordinatemeetings, can be based on a timer to allow each meeting a designatedamount of time as the active meeting. Further, user 110 may be able todelay the automatic jumping to the next active meeting and instead mayextend a current meeting active status (e.g., override the automatictimer) if maintaining the current meeting as active for a longer periodis desired.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram illustrating exemplary activeand background meeting presentations in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention is indicated by the general reference character200. In the active meeting presentation (e.g., by way of a presentationmechanism or output device), a larger view can be seen, perhaps byshowing elements, such as video 202, roster 204, alert mechanism 206,data 208, audio 210, text 212, web 214, and mode 216, as compared to thesmaller view of the background meeting presentation, including video218, for example. The relative size of each element (e.g., video 202,roster 204, alert mechanism 206, data 208, audio 210, text 212, web 214,and mode 216) within the presentation may be configured by the user.Further, the background meeting presentation may be configured toemphasize one particular element from a total group of elements (e.g.,video 218). In one embodiment of the present invention, the outputdevice can include a display screen also used for selecting the activemeeting. In other embodiments, the output device can be a separatedevice from the display screen.

Generally, the boxes shown in the example of FIG. 2 may be implementedas iconic or using a picture-in-picture (PIP) type of approach for thepresentation of the other conferences. Alternatively, differentquadrants of the screen can be designated for each conference, forexample. Roster 204 can show a list of users who are in multiplemeetings, for example. Accordingly, if someone is only passivelyparticipating, alert mechanism 206 can be used to wake that user up andrequest active participation in a given meeting (e.g., via a “wakeup”button). The alert may be experienced through one or more of the user'spresentation elements, for example. Other notification approachessuitable for use in accordance with embodiments of the present inventionwill be discussed in more detail below. In general, an active meetingpresentation can include full audio, full size video, and dataconferencing, for example. In contrast, a background meetingpresentation can include less emphasized audio and smaller presentationof video and data conferencing, for example.

A conference control application can adjust the audio gain of the activeconferences in such a way that the active conference is heard in theforeground and the other conferences are heard in the background. Inorder to make such conversations intelligible, all the voice streams ofconferences (e.g., meetings 102, 104, 106, and 108 of FIG. 1) can bespatially divided (e.g., one direction per conference). As discussedabove with reference to FIG. 1, selectors 112 can be used to choose theactive conference by way of a user input device, for example.

Further, selectors 112 can coincide with the spatial division ofmeetings 102, 104, 106, and 108. For example, a clock-like selection maybe provided to essentially divide the conferences into separate sectorsof a circle, as shown in FIG. 1. In one particular example, if there arefour available conferences in a system at one time and if user 110 isconceptually located in the center of the circle, the four conferencescan be placed at 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees relative to user 110. Inanother example in accordance with embodiments of the present invention,conferences can be conceptually located in a plurality of a threedimensional radial locations. If there are only two availableconferences, each conference can be conceptually placed at 0 degrees and180 degrees relative to user 110, for example. In this fashion, a usercan have a sense of direction relative to each available conference.Further, a selection mechanism (e.g., selectors 112) can coincide withthe conceptual conference locations by use of an interface (e.g., GUI orTUI) configured to enhance a media mode or component (e.g., voice) froma conference in that direction.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram illustrating an exemplaryendpoint and stream controller arrangement in a conference suitable foruse in accordance with embodiments of the present invention is indicatedby the general reference character 300. System 300 can represent meeting102, 104, 106, and/or 108, of FIG. 1, for example. In FIG. 3, mediaswitches (e.g., MS 304A, 304B, and 304C) may be switch/routers that canbe located in branch offices, for example. Audio bridge/mixer 312 andstream controller (SC) 310 may be located in a main office, for example.Further, base switch/routers can be configured by using software tooperate as a media switch or a stream controller in a particularapplication.

Stream controller (SC) 310 may be an entity (e.g., a switch/routerconfigured by software to operate as a stream controller) that generallyknows all of the participants in a video conferencing session, whichendpoint is an active speaker, which endpoint is a previous/lastspeaker, etc. Accordingly, SC 310 can notify the media switches (e.g.,MS 304A, 304B, and 304C) that a specific endpoint (e.g., 306A, 308A,306B, 306C, or 308C) is the active speaker, and instruct the owningmedia switch to send that stream out via multicast cloud 302. Further,SC 310 can have the media switch associated with the previous speakersend that previous speaker stream to the new active speaker (e.g., byunicast instead of multicast).

A relationship between the media switches and the stream controller canbe established by a controlling server (not shown in FIG. 3) upon set upof the video conference structure, participant locations, and the like.Further, audio bridge/mixer 312 can be used to convey to SC 310 that oneof endpoints 306A, 308A, 306B, 306C, or 308C, is the new loudestspeaker. SC 310 can then determine the location of X and which mediaswitch is associated with EP X. For example, if the new loudest speakeris EP 306A or 308A, MS 304A can be identified; if the new loudestspeaker is EP 306B, MS 304B can be identified; if the new loudestspeaker is EP 306C or 308C, MS 304C can be identified. Once the propermedia switch is identified, SC 310 can send a message (e.g., a signalingmessage using session initiation protocol (SIP)) to the appropriatemedia switch, notifying the media switch of the active speaker forconference 300.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a block diagram illustrating an exemplary audiomanagement in a conference spanning system in accordance withembodiments of the present invention is indicated by the generalreference character 400. In this example, the active conference can bemeeting 416, while background conferences can be meetings 418, 420, and422, as selected by user 402. Each of background meetings 418, 420, and422 can send a less emphatic audio content, such as only one active orloudest speaker, or a reduced volume summation of the three currentspeakers in that conference, for example. Typically, at least the threemost active speakers can be heard from one conference. However, inaccordance with embodiments, user 402 can configure the meeting server(not shown) to filter out the second and third-most loudest speakers inthe background conferences. This approach can limit the total number ofvoices that user 402 may have to process from up to 12 voices down to 6or less.

Accordingly, in this particular example, active meeting 416 can provideloudest speaker 404, second loudest speaker 406, and third loudestspeaker 408 to user 402. In contrast, background meeting 418 can onlyprovide loudest speaker 414. Similarly, background meetings 420 and 422can only provide loudest speakers 410 and 412, respectively.Alternatively, more than the top three loudest speakers from the activeconference can be provided in other approaches in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. This mixing of only the loudestspeakers from the background conferences with all, or the loudest three,speakers form the foreground or active conference, coupled with thespatial arrangement of the conferences discussed above, can facilitateidentification and effective “tuning in” of a user listening to up tofour conferences to a background conference of interest.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a block diagram illustrating an exemplary mediaselection for synchronization in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention is indicated by the general reference character 500.Synchronization can be provided between media modes or components, suchas video, audio, and web interfaces. User 502 can be associated withfour conferences: meetings 504, 506, 508, and 510. If meeting 504 is theactive conference, full media (e.g., video, audio, and web modes orcomponents) can be enhance relative to background meetings 506, 508, and510, and provided to user 502. User 502 may also have full 2-wayinteraction with meeting 504, as an active participant, for example. Inaccordance with embodiments, user 502 can select any one of theavailable media modes or components from one of the background meetingsand the selected conference can be brought into the foreground and maybecome the new active meeting. In the particular example of FIG. 5, user502 can select audio from meeting 506.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a block diagram illustrating an exemplary mediasynchronization approach in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention is indicated by the general reference character 600. Asdiscussed above, user 502's selection can be made using a TUI (for voicecomponents) or a GUI (for web/video components), for example. In thisexample, which is continued from FIG. 5, user 502 may select, via theaudio component, meeting 506. Once the audio component is brought intothe foreground, the conference server (not shown) may bring the othercomponents of the selected conference (e.g., meeting 506) into theforeground as the new active conference for user 502. In the example ofFIGS. 5 and 6, meeting 506 can then provide full available media to user502 and can then be available for 2-way interaction as the activeconference.

As another example, if a user brings a web component of a backgroundconference into the foreground, the conference server can bringassociate voice and video components of that conference (the new activeconference) into the foreground. In this fashion, integration andsynchronization of media modes or components of a conference, such asvoice, video, audio, text, data, and web components, can be provided toan associated user.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a block diagram illustrating an exemplary splitmodality operation in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention is indicated by the general reference character 700. User 702can be associated with three active conferences (e.g., meetings 704,706, and 708) and one background conference (e.g., meeting 710). User702 can engage in active conferencing with three different conferences,for example, by “splitting” modalities between the active conferences.In this particular example, active meeting 704 audio, active meeting 706video, and active meeting 708 web components can be placed in theforeground and provided to user 702.

In this fashion, a user can participate in one conference as anaudio-only participant, while viewing video from another conference,while text messaging responses in a third conference, for example.Further, the original participant “modality” can be transformed into adifferent modality for presentation to other conference participants.For example, the text messaging modality can be transformed into audio(e.g., by using a text-to-speech (TTS) engine) for the benefit ofaudio-only participants in another conference. That audio, in turn, canbe converted back into a text messaging format (e.g., by using anautomatic speech recognition (ASR) mechanism). Alternatively, theparticipant can receive the full audio “mix” from the active conferenceonly. The participant can then convert any background conference to theactive conference by using a “hot key” or other suitable feature code.The old active conference can be shifted to a text communication style.This approach can avoid the user becoming the active speaker acrossmultiple conferences, and may instead restrict the user's audio to onlythe active conference.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a block diagram illustrating spanning serverand desktop options for control of a conference spanning system inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention is indicated by thegeneral reference character 800. In one aspect of embodiments, softwarefor conference spanning can be loaded on a server (e.g., spanning server806). Spanning server 806 may be, for example, a router configured bysoftware to operate as a spanning server. Alternatively, a desktop PC(e.g., desktop PC 808) may be loaded with software to perform conferencespanning functions. In this fashion, conferences (e.g., meeting 802 andmeeting 804) can be spanned by a user of desktop PC 808, for example, asdiscussed above.

While examples of only two or four meetings have been shown, theconcepts discussed herein are conceivably scalable, but may instead onlybe limited by how much a user can process in some applications. However,in other applications, such as an automatic cycling through or anautomatic timer approach whereby each meeting in the system can becomeactive for a designated length of time, followed by automatic transitionto another meeting, there is no limit to the number of meetings that canbe supported in accordance with embodiments.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a flow diagram illustrating a first exemplaryconference spanning method in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention is indicated by the general reference character 900.The flow can begin (902) and a plurality of meetings can be spatiallyarranged (904). A user can monitor the plurality of meetings (906) andone of the meetings can be selected by the user to be an active meeting(908). The user can then receive full media or a media mode or componentfrom the active meeting (910). If the user wishes to end the activemeeting (912), the user can either return to monitoring the meetings(906) if the user intends to possibly enter another meeting or the flowcan complete (914) if the user is done meeting for this particularconferencing session.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a flow diagram illustrating a second exemplaryconference spanning method in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention is indicated by the general reference character 1000.The flow can begin (1002) and a processor can be coupled to a displayscreen and a user input device (1004). The user input device can be anysuitable type of user interface (e.g., GUI, TUI, or the like).Indicators from each of a plurality of conferences or meetings can bedisplayed (1006). A signal from the user input device can be accepted toselect an indicator (1008). This selected indicator can accordinglycorrespond to a selected or active conference. A set of full media or asingle media mode or component from the selected conference can bepresented via an output device (1010) and the flow can complete (1012).The output device can be any device suitable for the particular mediamode involved. For example, if only an audio media mode is selected,speakers may be a suitable output device. Similarly, for video (as wellas other media modes), a monitor or the display screen can be a suitableoutput device.

In a particular video conference example, the user can, along with theaudio options discussed above, have a conference name caption attachedto the video. Such an approach can avoid confusion as to whichconference the use is attending. In another example, a “tuner” can beattached to a voice stream for each conference. This can allow the userto listen to only one conference, but be able to watch all theconferences the user is associated with, at the same time. In thisexample, the voice component can be fixed on one conference, but spannedacross video of other conferences. Accordingly, there may be no voicemixing in this particular situation, but the participant can receivemultiple video feeds, but only one audio feed, from the “activeconference,” for example.

According to embodiments, a user can choose to let a state be shown,such as: (i) active; (ii) inactive; (iii) busy in another meeting;and/or (iv) do not disturb. If the user is in a state to be contacted,the participant can be “woken up” (e.g., using alert mechanism 206 ofFIG. 2) using any of the following approaches, for example: (i) hot wordrecognition (e.g., an ASR-based system that can monitor voice and alertswhen the user's name is called); (ii) “star-codes” with the user'smeeting profile identification to be dialed out to the system, whichthen alerts the user; (iii) moderator-initiated wake-up; and/or (iv) GUIbutton for web-based sessions.

Also, notifications can be sent to a user with the following elements,for example: (i) an in-band side/alerting tone to the user (e.g., a toneinteractive voice response (IVR) message played to the user to gain theattention of the user); (ii) GUI flash/highlight on the screen of theuser (e.g., the web, video, and/or text mode or component of thatparticular conference active on the user's screen can “flash” the userfor attention); and/or (iii) video-highlighting (e.g., flash the videocomponent of the conference or change the hues on the video to attractthe attention of the user).

In this fashion, embodiments of the present invention can be used tofacilitate the spanning of a plurality of conferences by accommodatingparticipation in some conferences in a passive manner and at least onein an active manner. Such an approach in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention can allow for a participant to effectively bepresent in more than one conference at the same time. Further,algorithms and/or methods in accordance with embodiments may also beused to differentiate “modalities” or media modes of a conference toallow participation as well as to distinguish between multipleconferences using a given media mode.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention pertain to the use ofconference spanning techniques to facilitate participation in multipleconferences and include advantages in a media (e.g., video, audio, text,and/or web components) conferencing system of: (i) increasingproductivity; and (ii) facilitating collaboration from multiple locales,for example.

While embodiments herein have been discussed with reference to certainmedia conferencing, embodiments of the present invention are not limitedthereto. For example, many other types of media and associatedinterchange or communication may be used in accordance with embodimentsof the present invention. Further, specific network arrangements andconfigurations shown herein are merely exemplary and one skilled in theart will recognize that other variations may be used in accordance withembodiments. Accordingly, variations and embodiments other than thosediscussed herein are possible.

Although embodiments of the invention are discussed primarily withreference to specific examples, any acceptable architecture, topology,protocols, network arrangement, forms of media, distributionarrangements, or other network and/or digital processing features can beemployed. In general, network controllers, managers, access points,clients, and so on, can be implemented via any device with processingability or other requisite functionality. It is also possible thatfunctionality relevant to embodiments of the present invention can beincluded in a router, switch and/or other integrated device.

Although processes of the present invention, and the hardware executingthe processes, may be characterized by language common to a discussionof the Internet (e.g., “client,” “server,” “peer”) it should be apparentthat operations of the present invention can execute on any type ofsuitable hardware in any communication relationship to another device onany type of link or network.

Although a process of the present invention may be presented as a singleentity, such as software executing on a single machine, such softwarecan readily be executed on multiple machines. That is, there may bemultiple instances of a given software program, a single program may beexecuting on two or more processors in a distributed processingenvironment, parts of a single program may be executing on differentphysical machines, etc. Furthermore, two different programs, such as aclient and server program, can be executing in a single machine, or indifferent machines. A single program can be operating as a client forone information transaction and as a server for a different informationtransaction.

Any type of processing or media presentation device can be used as adevice suitable for a network connection as an endpoint. For example,portable computing devices such as a personal digital assistant (PDA),cell phone, laptop computer, or other devices can be employed. Ingeneral, the devices and manner of specific processing (includinglocation and timing) are not critical to practicing important featuresof embodiments of the present invention.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been discussedprimarily with respect to video conferencing associated with a network,such as the Internet, any suitable network, network topology,transmission protocols, sender-receiver devices and relationships, andother characteristics or properties of electronic devices, processes andtransmission methods can be used. For example, features of the inventioncan be employed on various scales and in various applications, includinglocal area networks (LANs), campus or corporate networks, home networks,etc.

Although the invention has been discussed with respect to specificembodiments thereof, these embodiments are merely illustrative, and notrestrictive, of the invention. Embodiments of the present invention canoperate between any two processes or entities including users, devices,functional systems or combinations of hardware and software.Peer-to-peer networks and any other networks or systems where the rolesof client and server are switched, change dynamically, or are not evenpresent are within the scope of the invention.

Any suitable programming language can be used to implement the routinesor other instructions employed by various network entities. Exemplaryprogramming languages include C, C++, Java, assembly language, etc.Different programming techniques can be employed such as procedural orobject oriented. The routines can execute on a single processing deviceor multiple processors. Although the steps, operations or computationsmay be presented in a specific order, this order may be changed indifferent embodiments. In some embodiments, multiple steps shown assequential in this specification can be performed at the same time. Thesequence of operations described herein can be interrupted, suspended,or otherwise controlled by another process, such as an operating system,kernel, etc. The routines can operate in an operating system environmentor as stand-alone routines occupying all, or a substantial part, of thesystem processing.

In the description herein, numerous specific details are provided, suchas examples of components and/or methods, to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the present invention. One skilled inthe relevant art will recognize, however, that an embodiment of theinvention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details,or with other apparatus, systems, assemblies, methods, components,materials, parts, and/or the like. In other instances, well-knownstructures, materials, or operations are not specifically shown ordescribed in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of embodiments of thepresent invention.

A “machine-readable medium” or “computer-readable medium” for purposesof embodiments of the present invention may be any medium that cancontain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for useby or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus,system or device. The computer readable medium can be, by way of exampleonly but not by limitation, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, system,device, propagation medium, or computer memory.

A “processor” or “process” includes any human, hardware and/or softwaresystem, mechanism or component that processes data, signals or otherinformation. A processor can include a system with a general-purposecentral processing unit, multiple processing units, dedicated circuitryfor achieving functionality, or other systems. Processing need not belimited to a geographic location, or have temporal limitations. Forexample, a processor can perform its functions in “real time,”“offline,” in a “batch mode,” etc. Portions of processing can beperformed at different times and at different locations, by different(or the same) processing systems.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment”, “anembodiment”, or “a specific embodiment” means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the present invention and notnecessarily in all embodiments. Thus, respective appearances of thephrases “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment”, or “in a specificembodiment” in various places throughout this specification are notnecessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures, or characteristics of any specificembodiment of the present invention may be combined in any suitablemanner with one or more other embodiments. It is to be understood thatother variations and modifications of the embodiments of the presentinvention described and illustrated herein are possible in light of theteachings herein and are to be considered as part of the spirit andscope of the present invention.

Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in whole or in part byusing a programmed general purpose digital computer; by usingapplication specific integrated circuits, programmable logic devices,field programmable gate arrays, optical, chemical, biological, quantumor nanoengineered systems or mechanisms; and so on. In general, thefunctions of the present invention can be achieved by any means as isknown in the art. Distributed or networked systems, components, and/orcircuits can be used. Communication, or transfer of data, may be wired,wireless, or by any other means.

It will also be appreciated that one or more of the elements depicted inthe drawings/figures can also be implemented in a more separated orintegrated manner, or even removed or rendered as inoperable in certaincases, as is useful in accordance with a particular application. It isalso within the spirit and scope of the present invention to implement aprogram or code that can be stored in a machine-readable medium topermit a computer to perform any of the methods described above.

Additionally, any signal arrows in the drawings/figures should beconsidered only as exemplary, and not limiting, unless otherwisespecifically noted. Furthermore, the term “or” as used herein isgenerally intended to mean “and/or” unless otherwise indicated.Combinations of components or steps will also be considered as beingnoted, where terminology is foreseen as rendering the ability toseparate or combine is unclear.

As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow“a”, “an”, and “the” include plural references unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. Furthermore, as used in the descriptionherein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “in”includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

The foregoing description of illustrated embodiments of the presentinvention, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intendedto be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formsdisclosed herein. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, theinvention are described herein for illustrative purposes only, variousequivalent modifications are possible within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognizeand appreciate. As indicated, these modifications may be made to thepresent invention in light of the foregoing description of illustratedembodiments of the present invention and are to be included within thespirit and scope of the present invention.

Thus, while the present invention has been described herein withreference to particular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modification,various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoingdisclosures, and it will be appreciated that in some instances somefeatures of embodiments of the invention will be employed without acorresponding use of other features without departing from the scope andspirit of the invention as set forth. Therefore, many modifications maybe made to adapt a particular situation or material to the essentialscope and spirit of the present invention. It is intended that theinvention not be limited to the particular terms used in followingclaims and/or to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best modecontemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the inventionwill include any and all embodiments and equivalents falling within thescope of the appended claims.

1. A conference spanner, comprising: a presentation mechanism configuredto support a plurality of media modes from a plurality of conferences;and a selector for selecting a conference from the plurality ofconferences and designating the selected conference as an activeconference and designating non-selected conferences as backgroundconferences, wherein the active conference is assigned at least oneenhanced media mode in the presentation mechanism.
 2. The conferencespanner of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of media modes from theplurality of conferences is configured in a spatial arrangement toprovide distinction among the plurality of conferences to a user, thedistinction being in at least one of the plurality of media modes. 3.The conference spanner of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of media modesincludes audio.
 4. The conference spanner of claim 1, wherein: theplurality of media modes includes video.
 5. The conference spanner ofclaim 1, wherein: the plurality of media modes includes text messaging.6. The conference spanner of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of mediamodes includes web conferencing.
 7. The conference spanner of claim 2,wherein: the spatial arrangement includes a plurality of radiallocations about the user.
 8. The conference spanner of claim 1, wherein:the presentation mechanism includes a video display.
 9. The conferencespanner of claim 1, wherein: the presentation mechanism includes aroster of participants in one or more of the plurality of conferences.10. The conference spanner of claim 9, further including: an alertmechanism configured to make contact with a prospective conferenceparticipant based on the roster of participants.
 11. The conferencespanner of claim 1, wherein: the selector is configured to be operatedautomatically by cycling between the plurality of conferences.
 12. Theconference spanner of claim 1, wherein: at least one of the plurality ofconferences includes a distributed conference.
 13. The conferencespanner of claim 1, wherein: the active conference is configured to sendaudio media of a plurality of participants in the active conference tothe presentation mechanism; and each of the background conferences isconfigured to send a less emphasized audio media to the presentationmechanism.
 14. The conference spanner of claim 1, wherein: the selectoris configured to select one of the plurality of media modes of one ofthe background conferences; and the one of the background conferences isconfigured to send the plurality of media modes to the presentationmechanism.
 15. The conference spanner of claim 1, wherein: the selectoris configured to select a plurality of active conferences; and each ofthe plurality of active conferences includes at least one enhanced mediamode.
 16. A method of managing a conference spanning system, the methodbeing executable by a processor, wherein the processor is coupled to adisplay screen and a user input device, the method comprising:displaying a plurality of indicators on the display screen, wherein eachof the plurality of indicators corresponds to one of a plurality ofconferences; accepting a signal from the user input device to select oneof the plurality of indicators, wherein the signal corresponds to aselected conference; and presenting at least one of a plurality of mediamodes from the selected conference via an output device.
 17. The methodof claim 16, further including: configuring a spanning server usingsoftware.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein: the displaying theplurality of indicators includes forming a distinction among theplurality of conferences, the distinction being in at least one of theplurality of media modes.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein: theoutput device includes the display screen.
 20. The method of claim 16,wherein: the signal from the user input device is substantiallyautomated based on a timer.
 21. The method of claim 16, wherein: thepresenting the at least one of the plurality of media modes includes asynchronization of the plurality of media modes.
 22. The method of claim16, wherein: the displaying the plurality of indicators includes using aconference name caption denoting each of the plurality of conferences.23. The method of claim 16, further including: alerting a participant ofone of the plurality of conferences to join the selected conference. 24.A computer readable medium on which is stored a sequence of instructionsthat, when executed by one or more processors, wherein the one or moreprocessors are coupled to a display screen and a user input device,causes the processors to perform the method of: managing a conferencespanning system, the method comprising: displaying a plurality ofindicators on the display screen, wherein each of the plurality ofindicators corresponds to one of a plurality of conferences; accepting asignal from the user input device to select one of the plurality ofindicators, wherein the signal corresponds to a selected conference; andpresenting at least one of a plurality of media modes from the selectedconference via an output device.
 25. A means for managing a conferencespanning system, comprising: a means for displaying a plurality ofindicators on the display screen, wherein each of the plurality ofindicators corresponds to one of a plurality of conferences; a means foraccepting a signal from the user input device to select one of theplurality of indicators, wherein the signal corresponds to a selectedconference; and a means for presenting at least one of a plurality ofmedia modes from the selected conference via an output device.
 26. Aconference spanning system, comprising: a presentation mechanismconfigured to support a plurality of media modes from a plurality ofconferences; and a selector for selecting a conference from theplurality of conferences and designating the selected conference as anactive conference and designating non-selected conferences as backgroundconferences, wherein the active conference is assigned at least oneenhanced media mode in the presentation mechanism.
 27. The conferencespanning system of claim 26, wherein: the plurality of media modes fromthe plurality of conferences is configured in a spatial arrangement toprovide distinction among the plurality of conferences to a user, thedistinction being in at least one of the plurality of media modes. 28.The conference spanning system of claim 26, wherein: the plurality ofmedia modes includes video.
 29. The conference spanning system of claim26, wherein: the plurality of media modes includes text messaging. 30.The conference spanning system of claim 26, wherein: the plurality ofmedia modes includes web conferencing.
 31. The conference spanningsystem of claim 27, wherein: the spatial arrangement includes aplurality of radial locations about the user.
 32. The conferencespanning system of claim 26, wherein: the presentation mechanismincludes a roster of participants in one or more of the plurality ofconferences.
 33. The conference spanning system of claim 32, furtherincluding: an alert mechanism configured to make contact with aprospective conference participant based on the roster of participants.34. The conference spanning system of claim 26, wherein: the selector isconfigured to be operated automatically by cycling between the pluralityof conferences.
 35. The conference spanning system of claim 26, wherein:the active conference is configured to send audio media of a pluralityof participants in the active conference to the presentation mechanism;and each of the background conferences is configured to send audio mediaof only a loudest participant to the presentation mechanism.
 36. Theconference spanning system of claim 26, wherein: the selector isconfigured to select one of the plurality of media modes of one of thebackground conferences; and the one of the background conferences isconfigured to send the plurality of media modes to the presentationmechanism.
 37. The conference spanning system of claim 26, wherein: theselector is configured to select a plurality of active conferences; andeach of the plurality of active conferences includes at least oneenhanced media mode.